Chapter 14: Commander Li, Are You Satisfied?

“Screech—!”

Lin Ran stepped on the brake, and the military truck came to a steady stop at the entrance of the village.

He had deliberately waited until darkness fell before arriving.

After all, there were no traffic lights on the road, not even a single shadow in sight; he just had to keep pressing the accelerator.

The first time was clumsy, the second time more familiar, and this time he barely stalled the engine more than ten times.

Lin Ran opened the truck door and, out of habit and with practiced ease, raised both hands and called out into the darkness:

“Don’t shoot! It’s me, Lin Ran!”

Behind the fortifications, the guard squad leader poked his head out. Seeing it was indeed Lin Ran getting out of the vehicle, he quickly jumped out from the shelter.

“Mr. Lin! Please lower your hands! You are the most honored guest of our New First Regiment! There’s no way we’d let you raise your hands like that!”

Lin Ran recognized the squad leader clearly — what a coincidence, it was the same squad as last time, an old acquaintance.

“Greetings, comrade. Could you please inform Commander Li that I’ve brought quite a lot of good stuff for you this time?” Lin Ran lowered his hands and smiled as he patted the truck’s hood.

“All right, all right!” the squad leader’s voice changed with excitement. He immediately assigned a swift-footed soldier to run back to the village to deliver the message.

Standing beside Lin Ran, the squad leader rubbed his hands nervously, unsure what to say for fear of offending this wealthy benefactor before him, which would surely make him an outcast in the regiment.

Lin Ran saw their awkwardness and smiled as he pulled out a pack of Huazi cigarettes, beginning to hand them out.

Last time, he was the one who was nervous; now, the soldiers were the ones tense.

“Come, have a smoke to lift your spirits!”

Standing guard late at night was tough.

Lin Ran handed out one cigarette to each of them, then without hesitation stuffed the rest of the pack into the squad leader’s hand.

The squad leader looked about eighteen or nineteen years old — in the future, at that age, he might still be holed up in the dorm playing cards.

Looking at the exquisite red packaging he had never seen before, it seemed more valuable than silver coins, setting his heart aflame with warmth.

At that moment, a hundred or so people rushed out from the village.

The guard company commander, accompanied by over a hundred men, hurriedly charged out!

The commander’s anxious expression instantly melted into joyous relief when he spotted the familiar figure beside the truck.

“Everyone, put down your weapons! Safety off! It’s Mr. Lin!”

He quickly approached Lin Ran, stood at attention, and saluted.

“Mr. Lin! You’ve arrived!”

Lin Ran stepped aside quickly: “Relax, relax! No need to be so formal! I’m not a commanding officer. Let’s be natural!”

He waved his hand and, illuminated by the truck’s bright headlights, carefully examined the soldiers of the guard company before him.

Compared to the last meeting, when they looked thin and ragged, these soldiers now seemed much more spirited, their cotton-padded coats thicker and more substantial, though of varied conditions — at least they could now withstand the cold wind.

They were probably taken from the Yamazaki Battalion.

In this era, no one minded scavenging clothes from the dead; having something to wear was a blessing.

Still, compared to Lin Ran’s fluffy, warm down jacket, theirs looked thin.

Just as Lin Ran chatted with them about how they had taken down that scoundrel Yamazaki, hearty laughter rang out from the village:

“Hahaha, Brother Lin, Old Li has been looking forward to your arrival.”

Li Yunlong strode up to Lin Ran, grasped his hand firmly, and shook it vigorously, his face blooming with a broad smile:

“Brother Lin! I’ve got great news for you!”

“Thanks to you, a few days ago, Old Li here wiped out an entire reorganized Japanese battalion! Plus two regiments of second-rate Japanese troops! Completely wiped out! Hahaha! What a thrill! Damn satisfying!”

Lin Ran smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Commander Li, mighty and brave! The soldiers of the New First Regiment are heroic! Well done!”

Then Lin Ran added, “I always keep my word. Last time I said, the more you kill, the more and better equipment I’ll bring you!”

Li Yunlong’s grin stretched almost to the back of his head. “Brother Lin, do you really mean that?”

He had risked breaking discipline just to take down the Yamazaki Battalion, all for Lin Ran’s promise.

Lin Ran patted the military truck behind him.

“Commander Li, see for yourself!”

Li Yunlong was already impatient, waiting for Lin Ran to say this. He leapt into the truck bed.

This time, Zhang Dabiao did not stop him.

When Li Yunlong reached the truck bed and pried open a wooden crate, he was stunned.

“A submachine gun?”

He picked up an oddly shaped firearm, light as a feather, with a short and thick barrel — completely different from the imposing heavy machine guns or long-barreled cannons he had imagined.

“Brother Lin, this… this gun is too light and short. Can this thing be effective?”

In Li Yunlong’s understanding, the shorter and lighter a gun is, the weaker its power.

This gun felt like less than half the weight of a Type 30 rifle and was even lighter than a Type 38 rifle.

Actually, he didn’t expect Lin Ran to bring better weapons; just a few hundred Type 30s and Type 92s would suffice.

If possible, a few 75mm mountain guns would have made him even happier.

But this short gun…

“Brother Lin, uh…”

Lin Ran smiled.

What Li Yunlong held was a PPSh submachine gun, designed in 1941 and mass-produced in 1942.

It was only 1939 now; not only Li Yunlong but even someone like Spakin wouldn’t recognize it.

“Commander Li, come down here first. Let me give you a proper introduction to this gun.”

“All right, all right, Brother Lin, you explain it well to Old Li.”

Li Yunlong brought the PPSh over to Lin Ran, deciding to trust his brother one more time.

Lin Ran took the gun and turned to the guard company commander.

“Comrade, please bring me one of those green boxes at the back — inside are the ‘peanuts’ for this.”

“Yes!”

The commander moved quickly and soon presented a rectangular package wrapped in wax paper.

Lin Ran unwrapped the package, and under countless curious, anxious, and expectant gazes, began carefully loading the golden bullets one by one into the drum magazine.

The PPSh had both magazine and drum versions; the magazine held just 35 rounds, whereas the drum held 71.

Lin Ran had acquired only the drum versions.

“This gun is called the PPSh!” Lin Ran lifted the heavy drum. “Don’t be fooled by the size of this drum; it holds 71 rounds!”

“What? 71 rounds?” Li Yunlong’s eyes nearly popped out. “My goodness!”

Zhang Dabiao gasped. “The Type 30 only holds 30 rounds, and the Type 38 just 5! How many guns is this equivalent to?”

“That’s why I say, this time I brought you better stuff!” Lin Ran smiled confidently, fitted the drum, and pulled back the bolt.

“Click!” The crisp sound made every soldier’s heart skip a beat.

“Everyone, step back!”

The crowd quickly retreated a few paces, all eyes fixed intently on Lin Ran and the unassuming short gun in his hands, holding their breath.

The air seemed to freeze.

Lin Ran took a deep breath and pressed the trigger hard—

…Nothing.

The scene instantly fell into an awkward silence.

Li Yunlong’s mouth dropped open, his expression shifting from anticipation to confusion.

Zhang Dabiao twitched his mouth and cautiously, in a low voice, reminded, “Mr. Lin, um… is the safety off?”

Lin Ran’s face flushed deeply.

Damn! He’d forgotten about that!

He’d only ever fired pistols before.

He cleared his throat and forced calm: “Ahem, it’s cold; my fingers are a bit stiff.”

His fingers quickly flicked off the safety.

This time—

Lin Ran’s eyes focused sharply as he pressed the trigger again with force!

“Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!!”

Instantly, a long stream of fire roared out of the barrel.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Snow was instantly kicked up!

Frozen earth scattered everywhere in a chaotic mess!

The soldiers of the New First Regiment jumped in surprise.

A machine gun!

This was actually a… machine gun!

Li Yunlong was completely dumbfounded!

His mouth was open wide enough to fit a fist.

He never imagined that the small gun in Lin Ran’s hand was actually a machine gun!

The gunfire ceased abruptly, and the air hung thick with the strong smell of gunpowder.

Lin Ran set down the now slightly warm barrel, thoroughly satisfied with the expressions on Li Yunlong and the others’ faces.

“Commander Li, this thing is called a submachine gun!”

“It weighs about the same as a Hanyang rifle, less than a third of a Type 30’s weight!”

“But firepower…” Lin Ran weighed the still-smoking PPSh in his hand, his tone tinged with amusement:

“It’s equivalent to two Type 30s firing at once!”

He locked eyes with Li Yunlong, smiling warmly:

“So, Commander Li, are you… satisfied?”